SANTA ANA – A deputy assigned to the Men's Central Jail was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of taking bribes in exchange for allowing drugs and cellphones to be smuggled into the county jail, authorities said.

The seven-year veteran is accused taking gift cards and other items while allowing a legal runner to take contraband to her husband inside the jail, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. The runner was taking the items to her husband, who was in custody on a murder charge.

David Lloyd Cass, 38, was taken into custody Thursday morning after a nearly yearlong investigation, Amormino said. He was booked in Santa Ana Jail.

Investigators believe Cass was allowing items to be smuggled into the jail from Sept. 2010 to March 2012.

Investigators with the Sheriff's Department began an investigation into the contraband after marijuana, tobacco and a cellphone were found in December 2011 in the cell of Stephenson Kim, an inmate convicted of murder.

Ha Duc Nguyen, a 31-year-old resident from Norwalk, was working for a law firm and had regular contact with Kim, her husband, Amormino said.

Many of the visits took place while Cass was supervising the visiting area, he said.

In February 2012, Nguyen was taken into custody on suspicion of bringing drugs into the jail, being in possession of marijuana for sale, and gang affiliation.

Sheriff's investigators believe Nguyen was bringing contraband items into the jail, where they often were sold to other inmates.

Investigators continued to look into the contraband, using surveillance and reviewing phone and video records at the jail. Officials determined that Cass had communicated with Nguyen on several occasions, Amormino said.

Cass was assigned to custody operations, and was placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, Amormino said. He was placed on non-paid administrative leave when he was taken into custody, he said.

The case has been submitted to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

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